ETD: 932 New media outlets; Holiday Trivia; Thanksgiving: New
Casual Luxury Tableware
E-Tailer's Digest
etd_post at gapent.com
Tue Nov 15 03:47:44 GMT 2005
E-Tailer's Digest --- Everything for the Retailer
Issue #0932 November 15, 2005
George Matyjewicz, Moderator mailto:georgem at gapent.com
Published by: GAP Enterprises, Ltd. http://www.etailersdigest.com
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CONTENTS
[1] Greetings
[2] New media outlets
[3] Holiday Trivia
[4] Thanksgiving: New Casual Luxury Tableware
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[1] Greetings.
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Hi All:
Today we have a continuation of holiday trivia.
Did you know the answers to these? I found some
of them quite interesting, and not what I
thought. The answers are below the questions in section 3.
I see some of the major companies are trying new
outlets for TV, movies and now books. We're
looking for some new challenges, and wonder if anybody has some ideas.
Pam Danziger has some info on the new casual
luxury tableware for Thanksgiving. Sounds
interesting. Wonder what we should do with the fine china?
Now, let's get to everything for the retailer.
Sincerely
George Matyjewicz, PhD
Chief Global Strategist, GAP Enterprises, LLC
mailto:georgem at gapent.com
http://www.etailersdigest.com
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[2] New media outlets
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In the last issue we learned how the major
networks have changed their distribution methods
and are embracing cable. Now they are
considering the Internet. CBS and AOL have
teamed up to offer vintage TV programs to be
downloaded to your desktop or PDA.Now you can
watch re-runs of all your old favorites anytime you want, wherever you are.
And one publisher is in discussions with Google
to allow downloading of books on a rental
basis. That should be very interesting.
I actually like the idea of downloading books,
not because I don't want to have hard
copies. Rather it is an easy way for me to
research something. Right now I am learning a
lot of new things, and am studying every day for
a couple of hours. It would be so much easier if
I could "Google" a book online to find what I
need. Unfortunately, the books I am reading are
not in digital format. Although today I did find one that was, so we will see.
So now we have movies, TV programs and books online. What's next?
What would you think would be a good business to
develop in the next couple of years? Either
wholesale, manufacturing, retail or service? Is
it getting harder to find something? Are all
ideas taken? My partner and I are looking for
new challenges. And I have some investors who also want new outlets.
What do you think?
George
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[3] Holiday Trivia
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1. Why was fruitcake forbidden? (no, not because of the indigestion factor)
2. What do Christmas wreaths and the Olympics have in common?
3. What was the original purpose of the driedel
(child's game of spinning a top)?
4. Who is the poinsettia named after and what was it's original purpose?
5. Who was the first U.S. President to favor eggnog?
6. Why do people hang mistletoe in doorways?
7. Who wrote " 'Twas the Night Before Christmas"?
8. Where is the North Pole?
9. When did Christmas become so commercialized?
10. What is the origin of the custom of giving gifts at Christmastime?
11. Who wrote "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas?"
12. How did Dec. 25 become the day we celebrate Christmas?
13. What's a yule log?
14. Why do we deck the halls with boughs of holly?
15. Why do we decorate Christmas trees?
16. What does the "X" stand for in Xmas?
17. Who popularized Santa Claus?
18. What is the origin of the story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer?
19. How did Santa Claus become the symbol he is today?
20. What does the word Christmas mean?
1. Fruitcake: During the 1700s, fruitcake was
forbidden in Europe. Surprisingly, it wasn't due
to the overwhelming indigestion that the
brick-heavy, fruit and nut-laden confection can
induce. Instead, it was thought that fruitcake
was entirely too sinful and rich. Later on,
Europeans were able to have their cake and eat
it, too, but only if they indulged in the rich
dessert on special occasions like weddings and Christmas.
2. Christmas Wreaths: Could Christmas and the
Olympics have something in common? The ancient
Greeks adorned the heads of victorious athletes
with garlands of laurel, which eventually they
hung in their homes. This tradition blended into
Christmas since Christians believe the round
shape of the wreath is the symbol of immortality.
The evergreens used in wreaths signify life in the cold wintry season.
3. Dreidel: A simple child’s game of spinning a
top began as a disguise for studying religion.
The ancient Jews were banned from learning the
Torah so they devised games like the spinning of
the dreidel to conceal their studies. Today, the
dreidel is more about fun and less about sneaky learning.
4. The poinsettia was named for Joel Poinsett, a
U.S. ambassador to Mexico, who introduced it to
the United States from Mexico in
1829. Poinsettias: In the old days, the pretty
red, white, and pink star-shaped flowers
associated with Christmas were not just placed
around the house as a sort of living decoration.
The Aztecs used the poinsettia’s milk-like liquid to nurse away fevers.
5. Eggnog was a well-loved favorite of our first
president George Washington. When not busy
commanding the troops at Valley Forge or
overseeing his estate at Mount Vernon, Washington
was whipping up his own fragrant batch of eggnog.
It seems that good old George enjoyed a lot of
liquor in his eggnog mainly rye whiskey,
brandy, sherry, and plenty of Jamaican rum.
(Imagine the parties he must have thrown!)
6. The ancient druids believed mistletoe had
magic powers as well as medicinal properties.
Later, the custom developed in England (and,
still later, in the United States) of kissing
under the mistletoe, an action once believed to lead inevitably to marriage.
7. Clement Clarke Moore, an American scholar,
supposedly composed "A Visit From St. Nicholas"
to amuse his children on Christmas 1822. A
houseguest supposedly copied it and gave it to
the press. The Troy, New York, Sentinel first
published it anonymously on Dec. 23, 1823.
8. The North Pole, home to Santa Claus and his
elves, is in the Arctic Ocean, about 450 miles north of Greenland.
9. Macy's first remained open until midnight on
Christmas Eve in 1867. The store first featured
window displays with a Christmas theme in 1874,
and the holiday season has never been the same since.
10. Gift giving has its roots in the story of the
gifts from the Three Wise Men to the baby Jesus.
In 16th century Europe, children received bundles
called "Christ-bundles," full of toys, food, and
birch rods to remind them of the importance of
good behavior. The exchange of gifts between
adults didn't appear in the modern sense until the 19th century.
11. Irving Berlin, in 1942. It is one of the most popular songs ever recorded.
12. In A.D. 336, Christian leaders set the date
to Dec. 25, the same day as a popular pagan
holiday in Rome (Saturnalia) that celebrated the winter solstice.
13. The word yule has Middle English roots
meaning "to cry aloud." Scholars think it relates
to early Anglo-Saxon winter solstice
celebrations. Bringing in a large log to serve as
the base for holiday fires is an age-old
tradition popularized in the 19th century.
14. In the Middle Ages, the Christian church
forbade the hanging of mistletoe because of its
pagan origins, and suggested holly as a
substitute. The sharp leaves symbolize Christ's
crown of thorns, and the red berries signify
drops of his blood. Since the 19th century,
wreaths of evergreens, holly, or pinecones and
nuts have been traditional decorations in
Northern Europe, the United States, and Canada.
15. Decorating Christmas trees is an age-old
German tradition in which people hung trees known
as paradise trees with religious symbols. The
modern-day American practice of adorning a tree
with multicolored decorations originated in
Victorian England. German settlers brought the
custom to the United States and the practice continues to this day.
16. The familiar abbreviation for Christmas
originated with the Greeks. X is the first letter
of the Greek word for Christ, Xristos.
17. Between 1863 and 1886, the magazine Harper's
Weekly ran a series of engravings by the famed
political cartoonist Thomas Nast that included
pictures of the jolly old Santa we know today.
18. An advertising employee at the department
store Montgomery Ward wrote the story in 1939 for
a store promotion. The store gave away 2.4
million copies of the story to its customers that
year and it's been part of American popular culture ever since.
19. Dutch colonists brought this tradition with
them to North America in the 17th century. The
English-speaking majority adopted Sinterklaas but
called him Santa Claus, and united the legend of
a kindly old man with old Nordic folktales of a
magician who punished naughty children and
rewarded good children with presents. The
resulting image of Santa Claus in the United
States crystallized in the 19th century and
appears poised to continue into the 21st.
20. The word comes from an old English word that
means "Christ's Mass." The holiday commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ.
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[4] Thanksgiving: New Casual Luxury Tableware
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This Thanksgiving more Americans will set their
table with new ‘casual luxury’ tableware and
leave their formal china, crystal and sterling
silver stored in the china cabinet. According to
the latest Unity Marketing research study among
recent tableware buyers, a new category is
emerging in the tableware market that is too
casual to be called formal dinnerware, but too
elegant for everyday. The trend in setting the
holiday table this year is toward ‘casual luxury’
that is in the middle ground between formal and everyday.
Today’s tabletop consumer is choosing dinnerware
that reflects their more casual
lifestyle. Carol, a baby boomer who recently
purchased a new set of dishes, described her
preference for a more sophisticated but casual
luxury dinnerware, “I am dispensing with
formality as time goes by. Even though I have
four sets of good china, I don’t use them a
lot. When I entertain, I take out my casual
dinnerware that I can dress up with other things
and still feel I have set a nice table.”
Besides being dishwasher and microwave safe, a
defining characteristic of the new casual luxury
tableware is its ability to adapt to any dining
occasion, even the most formal. Jennifer, a GenX
home maker describes why she prefers casual
luxury tableware when she entertains, “It can
live in a formal setting or casual. It all
depends how it is dressed, how it is set. You
can make it anything from very casual to very formal.”
Traditional Industry Definitions Go by the
Wayside, as Consumers Demand Products That Fit Their Lifestyle
The tabletop industry has traditionally been
divided into two segments: Upstairs/Formal and
Downstairs/Casual. This study discovered that
women from 25 to 58 years old and even brides
when they register for dinnerware reject the
industry’s traditional approach in favor of new
casual luxury tableware that matches their
lifestyle and the way they entertain.
The big opportunity in the tabletop market today
is in this newly emerging middle-ground between
traditional formal and everyday casual. This new
casual luxury appeals to today’s shopper because
it offers the right price/value relationship and
is sold open-stock so shoppers can buy just the
pieces they want, like a mug, rather than a
cup-and-saucer in a pre-packaged set.
Crate & Barrel, Pier 1, Pottery Barn,
Williams-Sonoma and others have found a thriving
market niche offering high-style casual luxury
dinnerware and tabletop accessories. Danziger
continues, “This is dinnerware to use and enjoy
today, not store away in china cabinets. It
works for both everyday and special occasions as
it can be dressed up for even the most elegant
Thanksgiving table setting. The research
highlights ways that tabletop marketers must
adapt their product offerings and packaging to
what today’s consumer want, and that is less
formality and more sophisticated, yet functional casual designs.”
Unity Marketing has conducted a new consumer
insights research study to help companies that
market tabletop understand the new dynamics in the consumer marketplace.
This research study focuses on consumers who
recently purchased one or more of the key
tabletop categories: Upstairs and downstairs
dinnerware, sterling and stainless flatware,
crystal and glassware and other tabletop
accessories, such as tabletop linens, serving
pieces, and others. It reveals who buys these
items, what kinds they buy, how much they spend
on their tabletop purchases, and how they use, display and store these items.
Along with researching consumers’ purchase
behavior, the study focuses on why people buy
these products, what psychological and emotional
needs they fulfill and how they use tabletop
products in their lives for everyday dining, casual and formal entertaining.
To learn more about the research study Tabletop
and Home Dining Market, 2006: Consumer Insights
on Casual and Fine Dinnerware, Crystal and
Glassware, Silver and Stainless Flatware,
Servingware, Decorative Accessories and Other
Dining Accoutrements, use this link
http://www.unitymarketingonline.com/reports2/tabletop/
Pam Danziger,
President
Unity Marketing
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